Eraserheads Reunion Concert: The Happening!

Yeah I know, my blog is more than 40 hours late since the concert, please forgive me because I was too busy on housechores and now is the only time I have to write this. And so without much to say, here are the details of my experience on this once in a lifetime event!

Me and my hubby arrived at the venue at past 3pm, and as we were about to enter the gates of the General Admission area, the guards told us that belts, ballpoint pens, and perfumes are not allowed inside the concert! They said that this is the standard procedure during an open-field event, so try to remember this info when you go into one of the same events in the future. The guards told us that the women can wear belts, we went to the nearest parking lot and I wore my hubby’s belt instead since mine is an older belt, buti na lang hindi maluwag yung suot nyang pants at the time! Then I took out my pens and the spray-type perfume I had in my bag, buti na lang din at mumurahing Avon na pabango lang yun! Whew!

We entered the area at almost 4pm, we really wanted to be early for us to find the perfect spot for the concert. Kelangan naman sulitin ko yung pinangutang ko para lang makabili ng tickets! We waited by the concessionaires’ area, one huge guy approached me and asked me where my ID is and I said it’s in my bag, I thought he was talking about any identification to check my age, yun pala napagkamalan nya akong isa sa may-ari ng mga stalls dun dahil dun kami nakatigil! We took some pictures of the preparation for the concert…

Before 5pm, we secured an area here almost in front of the McDonald’s stall…and of course took some more pictures…

We waited here until 8pm, just standing, looking around, taking some more pictures, saw an old friend of my hubby by the Patron’s side, texting some friends, eating some 5pesos isa na Swift Hotdogs, drinking Lipton Green Tea, sitting by the dirt under the fence dividing the Patron side and the General Admissions side, ocassionally chatting with some fellow Eheads fans at our area, looking at the clouds giving out some sunset rays, looking at the crowd entering the gates, took some pictures of someone who made us laugh, we even wondered kung mapupuno ba yung field ng tao kahit may bayad na yung concert pero ayun, NAPUNO NGA, and according to the news, almost 60,000 people are there! More than the number of people who attended the Beyoncè concert! WoooHooo! As night approaches, the monitors and cameras are being tested, we all saw Jay Contreras of the Kamikazee Band displaying a “f*ck you” sign on both hands and grinning while the camera is rolling over him, we all laughed in amusement sa pagpapa-cute nya sa camera, nalibang din kami kahit papano. 😀

8pm came…people are still barging in, waiting anxiously for the band to come out and wondering what will they play first…then a digital clock was displayed on the monitor, 10:00, counting down… and as it was approaching the next minute, people are screaming louder and louder!

“May isang umaga, na tayo’y magsasama…Haya at halina sa alapaap…O, anong sarap, haa…”, Oh My Gosh… the crowd went wild, singing every lyrics of the song! What I felt was so surreal! This is the first and only time that I heard the Eraserheads perform their songs LIVE! And of course what would you expect? All of the people in there and even outside the concert area are singing! Malakas pa sa boses ni Ely Buendia! We even saw Aiza Seguerra singing with together with the crowd! Ang ganda naman ng pwesto namin dahil kaharap namin yung malaking projector para sa Gen Ad area. And of course we have recorded all of their songs! Here is the list of the songs that they performed that night:

1. Alapaap (After this song was a brief fireworks display)

2. Ligaya

3. Sembreak

4. Hey Jay

5. Harana

6. Fruitcake (Ely sang this after he said, “Merry Christmas!”) 🙂

7. Toyang (“they try to tell us we’re…too old…too old to be…bold…”)

8. Kama Supra

9. Kailan

10. Wag Kang Matakot

11. Kaliwete

12. With A Smile

13. Shake Yer Head

14. Wag Mo Nang Itanong

15. Light Years (After this song, napaupo na si Ely sa stage sa harap ng microphone stand nya, and that’s when I thought na baka atakihin sya sa puso… I think I even said it out loud while my hubby’s recording the performance)

Then they displayed a digital clock again, 20:00, and an announcement for the break time, the signal that the first half of the concert was finished. So we waited, some of us sat down, some of us ate, some had their “yosi break”, etc. Then napansin namin nawala yung digital clock sa monitor, the 20minute break was almost over…akala namin mag-uumpisa na ng second half…pero wala pa rin…umalis ako sa pwesto ko para bumili ulit ng hotdogs and drinks. Habang nakapila pa ako sa stall ng Vitwater, may narinig na akong sigawan, yun pala may umakyat na sa stage, I just thought na SANA mabilis na lang gumalaw yung pila ng mga bibili. Then I heard Buddy Zabala introduced the members of the band, Marcus Adoro and Raimund Marasigan, then when he said that the sister of Ely Buendia, Lally, has an announcement to make ayun kinabahan na ako, alam ko na may nangyaring hindi maganda kay Ely… and I was right. (I hate it when I’m right!) 😦

The following is Lally’s message, “Thank you for supporting the reunion concert of Eraserheads. We, however, regret to inform you that due to my brother’s poor health, the emotional and physical stress that he’s been experiencing, we apologize for cutting the concert short. My brother Ely had to be rushed to the hospital for medical attention. Again, we apologize and thank you all for coming here tonight.” (courtesy of PEP)

Of course we are all disappointed but we did understand it, no one dared to say BOOO or even got violent about it, after all, Ely did gave his best to show us the best concert by performing 15 songs non-stop! And we all know his health condition and his family’s loss of his mother 2 days before the concert, and they said that he finished their rehearsal at 3am that day! In fairness, the original plan with Philip Morris is that they play only 10 songs! But that night they performed 15 songs already! We finished the event with a minute of prayer for Ely… no ending song, no fireworks… just a prayer that Ely will be okay that night…

We all waited for the news about Ely Buendia’s condition and I am glad to know that he is now stable (though still in ICU) and somehow I am hoping that this concert will have a part 2 as what Raimund said in their interviews that they are willing to make another concert for the people! It was supposedly 3 sets of songs pala! Wow! I can’t help but imagine what the ending would be like if they have finished all of it and if Ely was really in shape for it, I bet there’s some fireworks display and that no one will ever forget it. But hey, there’s still tomorrow and a future! What’s important right now is that Ely Buendia will be okay and will get well very soon to gain his strength again before making another phenomenal concert! 😉

All in all, this concert was really worth our time and money… It’s a great feeling that I am there when it happened, I have witnessed it all and I am very happy! To the Eraserheads, we will pray that another concert will happen, we promise that we will save up for it so that we will be there singing with you again! Kudos to you guys! You are still the number 1 band of all time! You are already legends, and no one will surpass the achievements of the Eraserheads! WooooHoooooooo…. 😉